# Electoral history of John McCain

John McCain was the senior United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018 and was the 2008 Republican nominee for President of the United States; however, he lost the election to Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. McCain was involved in many elections on local, statewide and nationwide stage since his first election to the United States House of Representatives in 1982.

## House races (1982–1984)

1982 Arizona's 1st congressional district election :
| Primary election |||||
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | John McCain | 15,363 | 31.83 |
| | Republican | Ray Russell | 12,500 | 25.89 |
| | Republican | James A. Mack | 10,675 | 22.11 |
| | Republican | Donna Carlson-West | 9,736 | 20.17 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 48,274 | 100% |
| General election |||||
| | Republican | John McCain | 89,116 | 65.90 |
| | Democratic | William E. Hegarty | 41,261 | 30.51 |
| | Libertarian | Richard K. Dodge | 4,850 | 3.59 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 135,227 | 100% |
1984 Arizona's 1st congressional district election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | John McCain | 162,418 | 78.08 |
| | Democratic | Harry W. Braun | 45,609 | 21.92 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 208,027 | 100% |

## Senate races (1986–2016)

1986 United States Senate election in Arizona :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | John McCain | 521,850 | 60.47 |
| | Democratic | Richard Kimball | 340,965 | 39.51 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 106 | 0.01 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 862,921 | 100% |
1992 United States Senate election in Arizona :
| Primary election |||||
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | John McCain | 201,500 | 100.00 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 201,500 | 100% |
| General election |||||
| | Republican | John McCain | 771,395 | 55.82 |
| | Democratic | Claire Sargent | 436,321 | 31.57 |
| | Independent | Evan Mecham | 145,361 | 10.52 |
| | Libertarian | Kiana Delamare | 22,613 | 1.64 |
| | New Alliance | Ed Finkelstein | 6,335 | 0.46 |
| | Independent | Robert B. Winn (write-in) | 26 | 0.00 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,382,051 | 100% |
1998 United States Senate election in Arizona :
| Primary election |||||
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | John McCain | 206,490 | 99.73 |
| | Republican | Mark Healy (write-in) | 568 | 0.27 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 207,058 | 100% |
| General election |||||
| | Republican | John McCain | 696,577 | 68.74 |
| | Democratic | Ed Ranger | 275,224 | 27.16 |
| | Libertarian | John C. Zajac | 23,004 | 2.27 |
| | Reform | Bob Park | 18,288 | 1.80 |
| | Independent | Bill Reilley (write-in) | 187 | 0.02 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,013,280 | 100% |
2004 United States Senate election in Arizona :
| Primary election |||||
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | John McCain | 331,720 | 100.00 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 331,720 | 100% |
| General election |||||
| | Republican | John McCain | 1,505,372 | 76.74 |
| | Democratic | Stuart Starky | 404,507 | 20.62 |
| | Libertarian | Ernest Hancock | 51,798 | 2.64 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,961,677 | 100% |
2010 United States Senate election in Arizona :
| Primary election |||||
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | John McCain | 333,744 | 56.25 |
| | Republican | J. D. Hayworth | 190,229 | 32.06 |
| | Republican | Jim Deakin | 69,328 | 11.69 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 593,301 | 100% |
| General election |||||
| | Republican | John McCain | 1,005,615 | 58.86 |
| | Democratic | Rodney Glassman | 592,011 | 34.65 |
| | Libertarian | David Nolan | 80,097 | 4.69 |
| | Green | Jerry Joslyn | 24,603 | 1.44 |
| | Independent | Ian Gilyeat (write-in) | 5,938 | 0.35 |
| | Independent | Loyd Ellis (write-in) | 160 | 0.01 |
| | Independent | Santos Enrique Chavez (write-in) | 39 | 0.00 |
| | Independent | Sydney Dudikoff (write-in) | 14 | 0.00 |
| | Independent | Raymond Caplette (write-in) | 7 | 0.00 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,708,484 | 100% |
2016 United States Senate election in Arizona :
| Primary election |||||
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | John McCain | 302,532 | 51.16 |
| | Republican | Kelli Ward | 235,988 | 39.91 |
| | Republican | Alex Meluskey | 31,159 | 5.27 |
| | Republican | Clair Van Steenwyk | 21,476 | 3.63 |
| | Republican | Sean Webster (write-in) | 175 | 0.03 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 591,330 | 100% |
| General election |||||
| | Republican | John McCain | 1,359,267 | 53.71 |
| | Democratic | Ann Kirkpatrick | 1,031,245 | 40.75 |
| | Green | Gary W. Swing | 138,634 | 5.48 |
| | Independent | Pat Quinn (write-in) | 694 | 0.03 |
| | Independent | Sydney Dudikoff (write-in) | 494 | 0.02 |
| | Independent | Selena Lopez (write-in) | 223 | 0.01 |
| | Independent | Leonard A. Clark (write-in) | 83 | 0.00 |
| | Independent | Anthony Camboni (write-in) | 45 | 0.00 |
| | Independent | Sheila Bilyeu (write-in) | 34 | 0.00 |
| | Independent | Gene Scott II (write-in) | 7 | 0.00 |
| | Independent | Santos Enrique Chavez (write-in) | 4 | 0.00 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,530,730 | 100% |

## 2000 Presidential election

Washington primary for independent voters, 2000 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | John McCain | 208,879 | 40.08 |
| | Republican | George W. Bush | 118,234 | 22.68 |
| | Democratic | Al Gore | 107,950 | 20.71 |
| | Democratic | Bill Bradley | 69,352 | 13.31 |
| | Republican | Alan Keyes | 9,369 | 1.80 |
| | Republican | Steve Forbes | 3,387 | 0.65 |
| | Republican | Lyndon LaRouche | 1,406 | 0.27 |
| | Republican | Gary Bauer | 1,401 | 0.27 |
| | Republican | Orrin Hatch | 1,240 | 0.24 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 521,218 | 100.00% |
California primary for independent voters, 2000 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | John McCain | 791,064 | 38.03 |
| | Democratic | Al Gore | 454,629 | 21.84 |
| | Republican | George W. Bush | 443,304 | 21.29 |
| | Democratic | Bill Bradley | 159,772 | 7.67 |
| | Green | Ralph Nader | 89,210 | 4.29 |
| | Republican | Alan Keyes | 57,695 | 2.77 |
| | Reform | Donald Trump | 14,597 | 0.70 |
| | Libertarian | Harry Browne | 11,973 | 0.58 |
| | Reform | George D. Weber | 9,173 | 0.44 |
| | Republican | Steve Forbes | 6,035 | 0.29 |
| | American Independent | Howard Phillips | 5,957 | 0.29 |
| | Natural Law | John Hagelin | 4,843 | 0.23 |
| | Green | Joel Kovel | 4,646 | 0.22 |
| | | Others | 23,839 | 1.15 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,076,737 | 100.00 |
2000 Republican primaries :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | George W. Bush | 12,034,676 | 62.00 |
| | Republican | John McCain | 6,061,332 | 31.23 |
| | Republican | Alan Keyes | 985,819 | 5.08 |
| | Republican | Steve Forbes | 171,860 | 0.89 |
| | Republican | Unpledged delegates | 61,246 | 0.32 |
| | Republican | Gary Bauer | 60,709 | 0.31 |
| | Republican | Others | 35,659 | 0.18 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 19,411,301 | 100.00 |
2000 Republican National Convention (Presidential tally) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | George W. Bush | 2,058 | 99.66 |
| | Republican | Alan Keyes | 6 | 0.29 |
| | Republican | John McCain | 1 | 0.05 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,065 | 100.00 |

## 2008 presidential election

New Hampshire Republican vice presidential primary, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | John Barnes Jr. | 40,207 | 62.43 |
| | Republican | John McCain (write-in) | 4,305 | 6.68 |
| | Republican | Mike Huckabee (write-in) | 3,227 | 5.01 |
| | Republican | Rudy Giuliani (write-in) | 3,164 | 4.91 |
| | Republican | Mitt Romney (write-in) | 2,396 | 3.72 |
| | Republican | Ron Paul (write-in) | 1,938 | 3.01 |
| | Republican | Fred Thompson (write-in) | 1,496 | 2.32 |
| | Republican | Duncan Hunter (write-in) | 901 | 1.40 |
| | Republican | Joe Lieberman (write-in) | 528 | 0.82 |
| | Republican | John Edwards (write-in) | 515 | 0.80 |
| | Republican | Barack Obama (write-in) | 474 | 0.74 |
| | Republican | Alan Keyes (write-in) | 385 | 0.60 |
| | Republican | Hillary Clinton (write-in) | 324 | 0.50 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 4,543 | 7.05 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 64,403 | 100.00 |
Republican presidential primaries, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | John McCain | 9,838,910 | 46.49 |
| | Republican | Mitt Romney | 4,681,436 | 22.12 |
| | Republican | Mike Huckabee | 4,281,900 | 20.23 |
| | Republican | Ron Paul | 1,214,563 | 5.74 |
| | Republican | Rudy Giuliani | 597,499 | 2.82 |
| | Republican | Fred Thompson | 303,845 | 1.44 |
| | Republican | Uncommitted | 70,873 | 0.34 |
| | Republican | Alan Keyes | 59,636 | 0.28 |
| | Republican | Duncan Hunter | 39,883 | 0.19 |
| | Republican | Others | 26,548 | 0.13 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 48,004 | 0.23 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 21,163,125 | 100.00 |
2008 Republican National Convention (Presidential tally) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | John McCain | 2,343 | 99.28 |
| | Republican | Ron Paul | 15 | 0.64 |
| | Republican | Mitt Romney | 2 | 0.09 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,360 | 100.00 |
2008 United States presidential election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Barack Obama/Joe Biden | 69,456,897 | 52.91 |
| | Republican | John McCain/Sarah Palin | 59,934,814 | 45.66 |
| | Independent | Ralph Nader/Matt Gonzalez | 738,475 | 0.56 |
| | Libertarian | Bob Barr/Wayne Allyn Root | 523,686 | 0.40 |
| | Constitution | Chuck Baldwin/Darrell Castle | 199,314 | 0.15 |
| | Green | Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente | 161,603 | 0.12 |
| | | Others | 248,380 | 0.19 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 131,263,169 | 100.00 |